A 14-year-old boy who attained 400 marks in the 2020 KCPE examinations said online classes helped him score highly because he took them seriously.
Bradly Kimatu said he settled for his studies at home after the parents provided him with a smartphone and 24-hour access to Wi-fi.
He emerged the best candidate at Leaders Academy in Athi River, Machakos county.
“The online classes offered after the government indefinitely closed down schools and suspended physical classes when Covid-19 struck the country in 2020 worked for me. I never took them for granted,” Kimatu said.
Kimatu said, he, however, faced a lot of challenges with the Internet during his studies at home saying snap chats popped in his phone thereby disrupting his online studies.
He said he ignored the pops and chats from friends and instead concentrated on his studies by revising his notes and doing assignments.
“I faced lots of challenges, especially with the Internet. There is Wi-Fi at home so you get distracted easily when you try to study, a snap pops in your phone and you are eager to see. I thank God for helping me get over it,” Kimatu said on Sunday.
This worked for him leading to the performance.
“We were conducting online classes like Google classrooms and Zoom that helped me much. I could concentrate better during zoom lessons. Science, Mathematics and English were my best subjects.”
He thanked his parents for supporting him alongside providing him with Wi-Fi to enable him to attend online classes.
He said the school administration and teachers also offered him the necessary support and a good learning environment.
Kimatu said he was disappointed since he expected to score more marks in the examinations.
However, he said he will concentrate more at Nairobi School which he wishes to join and work hard to get to the best University to enable him to realize his dream of becoming either a pilot or mechanical engineer.
He also attributed his good performance to discipline and self-control.
“In this world, there are many distractors and with self-control, you can make it,” Kimatu said.
The boy’s mother Susan Asava couldn’t hide her joy.
“My son came to Leaders Academy in 2017 in class five. I am a proud mother. Bradly has done excellent and I thank the school’s fraternity for making all children shine this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” Asava said.
She said the boy was her second born out of three children.
Leaders Academy enrolled 35 candidates in the 2020 KCPE examinations and managed a mean score of 374 with two candidates scoring over 400 marks.
The school has a child population of 360 pupils.
The school’s director George Ndirangu said it has been in existence for the last 20 years having enrolled its first candidates for KCPE in 2003.
“We have been doing well all along, but this year we have done exemplary well with a mean score of 374 despite difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“We encouraged our candidates to take their studies seriously even when they were at home after lessons were suspended by the government due to Covid-19,” Ndirangu said.
Ndirangu said the candidates took their advice seriously and with the support of teachers and the school’s management, they excelled.
He said the school utilized the time to the maximum when the learners returned to school, there was no much movement in and out of school since the institution has qualified medical personnel to attend to health needs.
The director said education was an investment and as a family, it is good to invest where one can reap the best results possible.
Irene Ndirangu, the school’s administrator is a qualified clinical officer.
She said the school is a safe zone with a conducive environment for learners admitting children as young as four years.
It plays the parenting roles too with qualified and motherly matrons.
“We have mothers who have entrusted us with their little children, they are too busy in their job or businesses with no house helps.”
“The children are placed in our boarding facilities as they attend classes,” she said.
The school is well secured with a perimeter wall and electrified fence with professional security guards and under CCTV surveillance.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
